Fall Quilting Retreat

I just got back from my fall quilting retreat.  While I had a great time with my quilting friends, I didn't get as much done as I had hoped.  However, I did finish the top for this girl's quilt.  I need to quilt it and then get ready to sew on some pockets.  It took a while to design and make the pockets, but I decided that they would look best if sewn on after the quilt is done.

The fabrics have little kitties and doggies in it and I've made some little pets to fit into the pockets.  

Hopefully it will all turn out okay.  I made up the pattern, so we'll see how it looks when it is done.  I'm going to give it to my granddaughter.  I'm hoping that she will like the interactive part with the pets.  

I roomed with my friend Linda.  She is making a nautical baby quilt for her new grandson.  I just love the fabrics that she picked.  There's a lot left over and she's going to make something for herself, a throw or a bed runner.

I love how it came out.  I'm sure her new little one will love it, too!  

I'll still keep working on my quilts in progress.  One day soon.  

 

Quilt Retreat Coming Up also known as Unfinished Projects

In a few weeks, I have a three-day quilt retreat to go to.  I'm looking forward to spending time with my quilty friends and work on a few unfinished quilts.  

I thought that I would bring this quilt.  It's from Corey Yoder made with her fabrics.  I've liked the pattern for a while and started this about two months ago.  It has cute sashing with stars in it and I hope to actually finish it for myself.  I have collected a lot of Corey's fabrics and feel like I could make 5-6 quilts with what I've got.  So I'd better finish at least one of them.

This soon-to be-made quilt is half square triangles made from an older line of Tilda fabrics, called Plum Garden.  One day I just took it out and started to work on this layout for it.  I don't have a pattern; I just saw a photo on the Internet. 

I'm going to bring this along with me on the retreat, also, so I'm hoping to get some things done while I'm there.  

I've numbered all of the pieces and will need to square them and sew them into rows.  I will have to figure out what to use for a border - the fabric line is old and I can't find any more of it.

But I will figure out something when I get to that point.

When I was working on the Plum Garden quilt above, I got a bit carried away and started to sew up a couple more charm square packs from assorted Tilda collections.  

So now I have enough to make a second quilt from my half square triangles.  I sewed together 144 of them last week in preparation for my quilt retreat.

We'll see what actually gets done.  LOL

FYI - there are other quilts laying around that just need borders, backing and/or quilting to finish them up.  

I'm going to try to finish those up by the end of the year.  Maybe I'll throw them in the retreat bag, as well.  I will need way more than three days, but I will try to get as much done as I can.  Wish me luck!

 

Sewing Machine Collage

This past January I went on my annual sewing retreat in Greenwich, NY with some ladies from my quilt guild.  I brought one of my Laura Heine collage patterns with me to finish up.  It's been sitting half done in my sewing room for a year.

For this type of collage, you iron Steam-a-Steam to the back of your fabrics and then cut out the pieces and adhere them to a special layer of interfacing.  It's hard to tell by from the photo, but just about every flower and embellishment on my quilt has been cut our of another fabric and ironed onto my wall hanging.

After I ironed down all of the pieces, I quilted it in straight lines about half of an inch apart to finish it.  I put on the border and hand-sewed it down all at the retreat so that it would be completed before I got home.

I've admired this pattern for a long time and finally got to finish one of Laura Heine's patterns.  

I hung it up in my dining/crafting room for all of my crafting friends to see.  I'm so glad to get it finished.  :)

At my 4-day retreat I got a chance to work on a lot of unfinished projects (we call them UFO's).  The setting there is so amazing.  The retreat is located near the Vermont border, east of where I live.  Even in the winter it is still beautiful.

Walking along this road reminds me a bit of entering Narnia, don't you think?  

 

Quilts in Progress

While on the Quilt Retreat, I brought a couple of quilts that needed some work on them.  This first quilt is made from a Jelly Roll that had pretty reds and pinks in it.  I made a row of pinwheels to break up the stripes, but I wanted to add more pieces for some visual interest.  So I'm adding in some different sized pinwheels to give it more pizazz.  

I did finish the quilt top at the retreat and now need to quilt it.  I hope to finish it before next Christmas so that I can have it as a red throw.  

The next quilt that I brought to work on is another Chandelier Quilt from Missouri Star.  I finished up a red one to give to one of my friends at Christmas and now I'm onto a more spring-like look.  This quilt has several greens, yellows and sunflowers in it.  I hope to finish it in the next few months to give to someone special.  :)

Part of the fun in going on the retreats is to spend time with other ladies that love quilting.  We have show and tell, and share the ideas for our current and next projects with each other.  Now there's even more projects that I want to make!

We spend some time outdoors going on walks to get some fresh air and enjoy some wonderful meals together.  I can't wait for the next retreat!  When is it, again?

 

My Fall Sewing Retreat

Not only do I go on a Quilting Retreat in the winter, but also in the fall.  Ah, I love fall.  My friends and I went out on a walk during our retreat time and the landscape was amazing.

It was such a beautiful weekend!  The weather was just perfect and the trees were in full fall color. 

I do have to say, here in upstate NY the fall is such a great time of year!  (I'm not sure about what comes next- a very long winter, but I do love fall.)

Here is a pic of the outside of our hotel rooms first thing in the morning.  :)

On the inside, I was working on several different quilting projects.  Although our retreat is 4 days, I never get enough done!  There are just so many projects to make.

I started working on the Rainbow Quilt last winter.  This weekend I sewed some borders on it and got it ready for the backing and quilting.

I added a light gray border to it and I love how it makes the rainbow colors all stand out. 

This weekend I started this colorful quilt made from a jelly roll.  I saw the picture in a book and tried to get the whole quilt put together in a couple of days.  After sewing the strips together, I wasn't sure if I liked how it turned out.  (Don't you hate that?)

But now that I have it at home, I put a teal colored border on it and like it a lot better. I hope to finish it soon to give to a friend who is moving away.  She likes bright colors.

This is an adaptation of Pat Sloan's "Oh, my Stars" quilt pattern.  I picked up the fabrics last fall at the Houston Quilt Show and cut them into squares to make a quilt for one of my sons.  Last year I made him an afghan in these same colors, so I'm making the quilt to match.

It's ready for a backing.  I'm hoping to finish it for Christmas.  Wish me luck!

At My Sewing (Snowing) Retreat

Every winter I go to a Quilting Retreat in the Berkshire Mountains with about 30 other women from my quilt guild.  It is a beautiful place in upstate NY where we spend 4 days sewing, chatting, eating and being inspired together.  We all look forward to going each year!

Here is a pic of the beautiful landscape when we arrived on Friday morning.  No snow, per say on the ground.  However, as the weekend progressed, we got 14+" of snow that was blowing around in some bitter cold temperatures. 

Look how the mountains have "disappeared" in this photo!  This pic doesn't even do it justice because I was taking the photo under a pavilion.  But even getting snowed in, we had a great time.

I brought a lot of old, unfinished quilts (UFO's) with me to work on.  Seriously, it's time to move these quilts on so I can start some pretty new things!  This is my year.  :)

Here is one that I started about 3-4 years ago for my sister.  It's got some cute doggie fabric that I cut up into 5" squares, but never finished it.  When I took it out, the squares looked very boring, so I made some colorful pinwheel blocks from my fabric stash to match some of the colors in the quilt.  Now it has some movement to it and doesn't look so boring.  I showed her a pic and she said, Yes, go ahead and finish it for her.  She loves it. 

I also working on this cute kitty quilt that will be for my daughter.  It was supposed to be her Christmas present (LOL) but now it will be for her graduation this spring from Nursing School.  It's almost done and I'll be a step ahead, not behind.  :)  The pattern is called Pins and Paws Cat Quilt from the Missouri Star Quilt Company.  It's such a fun and easy quilt to piece together.  Once I finish this, I'd like to make another one in some bright colors.  The link to make this pattern is here. 

Here is another quilt that I worked on during my retreat.  It's a fabric line called Flora and Fauna by Riley Blake.  I just love the colors in it.  It's from a jelly roll that I purchased last year.  It still needs some borders but the piecing is all done.  The pattern is from the Missouri Star Quilt Company called Cutting Corners Quilt.  You can make it, too- here is the link. 

Finally, here is a quilt that I started 4 years ago for my niece when she finished high school.  She wanted an "outdoor" quilt.  I wasn't sure what that exactly meant, so I purchased a jelly roll in the Alpine fabric line.  It has topographical maps on it, foxes, birch trees and other outdoor images. She'll be graduating from college this spring, so I thought that it's time that I should complete it!  I have it on my Handi Quilter and the quilting should be done soon! 

How about you, do you have quilts or other projects that you need to take out and complete?  I'll post them when I get them all done.  There are 7 quilts in my pile that are ready to be quilted and moved on. I'd better get back to work!  :)